The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-06-02

eno unbiOu. OuE cktitb 1XbEOl50 u COu
trolling influence In the nation, and II
these are allowed to become great cen.
ters Of corruption, IL will bOde great evil
% the country. The only way In whlcn
this can be prevented, is for good cltl-
z5ns to rec0gniZs the obligations Of citi-
1enship with reference 10 local govern
ment; to use their Efforts to have good
men nominated for office; and II they
cannot succeed In this to refuse to be
UOund by party prejndlces and cries, and
vote for the better man. The growth Of
the church Of Christ, and the progress
OF the principles Of the gospel In human
society, depends TO q large extent on the
prevalence Of pure government. A bad
set Of city officials may do more to de-
bauch public morals In two years than
all the churches In the city may do to
elevate them, and the Christian citizen
ought to consider himself the guardian,
10 the extent Of his influence and abil-
ily, Of the public moras.
ii. A second characteristic Of the
Christian citizen Is that he eherishes
the Bible idea OF man, and those princi-
pies OF human equality and human
rights which are inculcated by the gOs-
pei.
Whatever we may have thought Of 1t
ut the time, the real Issue In the great
war OF twenty years ago was a1 Issue
about man. True, on the surface 1t was
question Of uni"n or disnni0n; but II
there had not been radically different
views prevailing In the two sections
ABOUT man, out OF which he'd gr0wE too
radically different types Of civilization,
the question Of disuDiOn had never been
raised.
Society In the North was organized
on the broad idea Of human equality;
equality of natural rights and privi-
leges, and equality In participation In
civil rights. Society In the South was
organized on the principle Of class and
race distinctions: The hateful institu-
ti0n OF human slavery prevailed, and
about this their civilization was built
up. Il was really between these two
great diverse civilizations, built up
about diverse conceptions OF man that
the great conflict was waged. There
was half century Of conflict between
them before the issue led to bloody war;
but far seeing minds had already seen
1t to be an "irrepressible conflict" and
that one or the other Of these ciVillza-
ti0ns must be supreme over all the land;
that as Abraham Lincoln, with pro-
phetic instinct and manly courage early
said, this country must be all slave,
else all free"
And SO at last the war of discussion
gave place to real war. The hot, pent-
up passions Of two great peoples pre-
cipitated them together In bloody con-
flict upon the battlefield, and for four
awful years there was rude havoc Of life,
and wealth, and happiness, until at last,
buried beneath blood and carnage, the
false and unchristian conception Of man
and Of human society, about which the
8, uthern ciViliz stloG was reared, went
down forever.
As we look back upon the conflict to.
day from this distance Of mere than
twenty years, with the smoke blown
away, and the heat Of passion allayed,
we can see that the providence Of God
was writing out for US an INTERPRETATION
Of our own declaration. "that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed
by the Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit Of happiness" and we
can now see how God was making this
interpV citation sacred to us, by writing
1t in the most precious life-blOOd Of the
nation.
That Interpretation certainly is In the
line of the tesching Of Jesus Of N azareth
In regard to the brotherhood Of the race,
and to the Christian patriot 1t certainly
Ia matter for COngratulation, and the
steady, II somewhat slow progress Of the
nation is toward the working out OF
that principle; that the tendency Is
toward exact and equal justice to all
men; not 10 white men only, but to men,
no matter what the color Of their skin,
or the race, or nation to which they be.
long.
II is due not a little to the impulse
given to the Bible conception Of mlu,
and of human rights, through the eman-
cipatiOn of the black man, that there is
an increasing disposition to acknOwl-
edge that there Ia some other duty to-
ward the Bed man on the part of a
Christian nation, than to seek to exter-
inmate him from the land. We are
slowly coming to recognize that he, too,
belongs under the category Of men. We
have progressed far enough In the Bible
doctrine OF humanity, as nation, to
listen, though 1t be with some impa
tience, and not very sympathetic ear,
to the story of the wrongs. and cruelties
which we, a great strong people, have
visited upon this weak and subject race;
committed to our tender mercy by the
hand Of Divine Providence; story o.
wrongs and cruelties, and broken faith,
which have been one long continued
outrage on the decencles of humanity.
And can see too, In this awakened
spirit Of appreciation for man, the i'm
pulse to recognize the wrongs Of what
ever kind, against man In society, and
to make war upon those wrongs. The
great reforms that are agitating society
just now, have their origin In q broad.
ened sympathy for man as man, and q
desire to have justice and righteousness
prevail as widely as possible In human
society.
cannot but believe that the march Of
the race Ia onward, and that the face o.
the race is upward, and that as the spirit
of Christ prevades 1t more and more, so
there will be broader recognition Of
man as man, and O wider reach Of that
Righteousness In human society, which
Jesus Of Nazareth taught. There could
be no better field for working out the
problem which arise In the battle for
] stice and right between man and man
than here In America, where there Is
comingling Of so many races and ma
ti0nalties, and q christian patriotism
points to that conclusion which makes
for a T. II chance In the battle Of life,
for every man of every race, of every
nation. That patriotism.thst stands for
the br0Rdest spirit Of human brother.
hood, will not be out Of harmony with
the spirit OF the near future.
"Then let Us pray. that come 1t may,
As come II will for a. that,
That sense and worth, DER all earth.